Outdoor's untapped potential

"We have conducted in-depth research into the potential in certain rural areas which we consider to be goldmines. The message retention in these areas is far higher than in suburbia and most advertisers are losing out on fantastic opportunities," he says.

The top three spenders in Outdoor, as recorded for 2002 are Government Departments, Lever Ponds and SA Breweries. These organisations are certainly on the right track with much of their target market comprising people categorised within the LSM 2-6 market.

Research has shown that awareness of outdoor advertising in Sandton is at 89.3%, Randburg 78.8%, Johannesburg Central 80.3% and Johannesburg South 78%, compared to a staggering 94.3% in Soweto.

"Rural residents don't need to be able to read to understand the message, especially in outdoor which lends itself to a broader audience. Black areas are undeveloped while white areas are overdeveloped in terms of billboard placements," says Jaco.

There are approximately 44,8 million people living in S.A, of which 38.8% of the population falls under LSM 4-6 (17,38 million people), and here, total retail spend above the line equates to 2206,7 million Rand. Therefore, the total retail spend in this sector is estimated at approximately 1297,5 million Rand.

Projected percentage share in retail trade sales for 2003 indicate that blacks are responsible for approximately 58.5% of all purchases in the South African retail sector in comparison to 27.7% whites, 4.7% asians and 9.1% coloureds. White areas will eventually reach their expansion point as 77% of the population functions within the LSM 1-6 classes.

Statistics reveal electrification in rural areas has increased and ownership of tv's, fridges and microwaves has grown. Average household income increases have exceeded CPI by 2%.

While newspapers, television, radio and internet audiences remain constant; exposure to billboards and store advertising continues to grow. Looking at South Africa as a whole, widespread illiteracy still reigns, as does the poor coverage generated by conventional media in the country, so it is surprising that ad spend on outdoor is so low. In other parts of the world with similar markets, we often find a higher ad spend in outdoor ranging from 4.6% in Pakistan, 4.7% in Mexico and 9.6% in India and Columbia compared to 4.19% in South Africa.

"A study conducted in Australia showed that an outdoor campaign run with no additional advertising support showed a 40% increase in brand awareness. More interesting however is that 84% of respondents claimed to have seen the advertised message on television! This illustrates the subliminal nature of outdoor advertising. This subliminal message is less visible, although no less impactful," says Jaco.

By using one message on an outdoor campaign, awareness is estimated at 41.1%, whereas if 5 messages or more are shown on the same billboard, the awareness drops to 29.2%. As with any other media, the creative of the campaign has to be visually appealing as well as effective. When it comes to outdoor, less is more! The message has to be single minded and effective as the viewer only has three seconds to take in the message.

In closing, Jaco says, "We essentially need to take the message to the people and outdoor is the medium which does this most effectively."